Zelenskyy tells aides to reject U.S. pitch for 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told his aides to reject a proposal from Trump administration officials that would grant the United States significant access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, a Ukrainian official close to Zelenskyy confirmed to NBC News.

U.S. officials said the proposal would serve as a form of repayment for the support Washington has provided Kyiv since its war with Russia began, but according to the aide close to the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy did not feel the agreement contained adequate security guarantees for Ukraine.

The draft agreement would have granted the U.S. 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and was first proposed to Zelenskyy this past week by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, NBC News reported. 

“I didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference, in a quote first reported by the Associated Press on Saturday.

A U.S. official called Zelenskyy’s response to the Trump administration’s offer “short-sighted,” adding the agreement would serve as an “enduring partnership” between the two nations.

“Binding economic ties with the United States will be the best guarantee against future aggression and an integral part of lasting peace. The U.S. recognizes this, the Russians recognize this, and the Ukrainians must recognize this,” the official said.

U.S. officials briefed on the proposal signaled an openness to deploying American troops to Ukraine to guard the minerals — but only after a deal with Russia to end the war was agreed to.

Zelenskyy declined to sign the draft when Bessent first presented it during their meeting in Kyiv last Wednesday, saying he needed to study it and consult others about it, officials briefed on the meeting told NBC News.

President Donald Trump said in a recent interview with Fox News that he wanted the U.S. to get $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and said Kyiv “essentially agreed to do so.”

Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, both of which are used to make a variety of technology products. Many of the minerals, however, are in areas now controlled by Russian troops, according to U.S. officials.

Ukrainian officials have said Zelenskyy has long backed the idea of exchanging “critical resources” for continued U.S. support, calling the idea part of the “Victory Plan” that he presented to Trump during a meeting last fall.

In an exclusive interview Friday at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that his country would have a “low chance to survive without support of the United States,” but Trump has long questioned the amount of support the U.S. has sent to the country, referring to Zelenskyy at a past campaign event as “the greatest salesman of all time.”